Stormy Weather ena Horne, Bill “Bojangles” of Mills Music, a leading publisher Stormy Weather was originally re- LRobinson, Cab Calloway, “Fats” of black songs. Co-screenwriter leased on CD back in November Waller, Ada Brown, Dooley Wil- Ted Koehler, a Fox contract writer, 1993 and has been out-of-print for son, The Nicholas Brothers, Babe had a long relationship with Lena many years. This new soundtrack Wallace, Mae Johnson, Katherine Horne. He and his songwriting release was prepared in conjunc- Dunham and her beautiful dance partner Harold Arlen wrote for the tion with the Twilight Time release troupe. All these great performers Cotton Club. It was they who wrote of the film on Blu-Ray. With no and more are on view in Twenti- the title tune “Stormy Weather” for surviving documentation, Neil S. eth Century Fox’s classic musical, the Cotton Club Parade of 1933, Bulk first assembled the isolated Stormy Weather. Released in July for singer Ethel Waters. Horne score track for the Blu-Ray (en- of 1943, critics and audiences alike made her debut as a chorus girl tirely by ear as there is no sur- were stunned and delighted by the in that edition of the revue series. viving documentation) while also sheer parade of non-stop musical After the opening of the movie, the notating tracks that had been excellence. In fact, the film’s brief Waters version was forgotten and shortened for or went unused in running time of less than eighty the song was forever after inex- the finished picture. The source el- minutes contains over seventy tricably linked to Horne. Thomas ements were spread over various minutes of music. Lena Horne’s “Fats” Waller interpolated his line, 1/4” tapes archived by Fox in the ethereal, gorgeous voice lends “One never knows, do one,” into 1980’s from the original optical re- an unforgettable purity to her ren- the script. Waller was an irrepress- cordings. Mike Matessino restored ditions of “There’s No Two Ways ible performer, but sadly Stormy and remixed all the tracks afresh, About Love” and the title song, Weather would mark his last film assembling and mastering a pre- “Stormy Weather.” The inimitable appearance. He died of pneumo- sentation of the score as originally “Fats” Waller delivers the definitive nia in December, 1943. Also mak- recorded and intended before the “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and a superb ing his last appearance in a movie picture was shortened by the stu- duet with Ada Brown called “That was Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. dio. Additional songs recorded for Ain’t Right.” Cab Calloway sashays This great dancer was the creator the movie are presented among and cavorts through “Geechy Joe” of the “stair tape dance” of which a second disc of bonus material. and “Jumpin’ Jive.” Bill Robinson his dance on the drums in the film While we have identified the vo- bends the mind with his agility at is an impressive variation. He also calists on the new bonus material, age 65, and Mae Johnson breaks coined the term “copacetic” and there was no paperwork about the heart with her soulful perfor- used it to describe a laid-back style “Nobody.” But we’re fairly certain mance of “I Lost My Sugar in Salt of tap exemplified by the riverboat the vocalist is Shelton Brooks, who Lake City.” number, “Linda Brown.” Robin- wrote the music for two of Stormy Stormy Weather was really a son’s biggest Broadway success Weather’s numbers, and who was groundbreaking, courageous pro- was Blackbirds of 1928. From a well known Bert Williams imper- duction. With its all-black cast, and that show came two of Stormy sonator (Bert Williams co-wrote scintillating vaudeville style, the Weather’s best numbers – “I Can’t and sang “Nobody” – it was his film eschewed plot for song-and- Give You Anything but Love” and signature song and a huge hit, dance extravagance. The film “Diga Diga Doo.” Stormy Weather and the clear inspiration for “Mr. also ran the risk of being banned is a dynamically entertaining docu- Cellophane” from Chicago). It’s in those areas of America that ment of a bygone era. a monumental release of a truly practiced segregation. Wendell important film musical, filled with Wilkie, a spokesman for the Black — Nick Redman some of the most glorious music movement, visited Fox in 1942, and performances ever committed and extracted from the studio a Reprinted from the 1993 release to celluloid. promise to “Regard the Negro as with permission of the author an integral part of American life.” —Bruce Kimmel The studio saw Stormy Weather as a fulfillment of that promise. The production advisor on the pic- ture was Irving Mills, who earned his title by being manager of many of the stars on screen. A close associate of Ellington and Callo- way, Mills was also the president